Fallen S.J. soldier honored

Inside a cavernous maintenance building Wednesday morning at Fort Benning, Ga., the U.S. Army paid quiet tribute - 71/2 years after he was killed in Iraq - to Pfc. Jesse D. Mizener.

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By Kevin Parrish

recordnet.com

By Kevin Parrish

Posted Jul. 28, 2011 at 12:01 AM

By Kevin Parrish
Posted Jul. 28, 2011 at 12:01 AM

» Social News

Inside a cavernous maintenance building Wednesday morning at Fort Benning, Ga., the U.S. Army paid quiet tribute - 71/2 years after he was killed in Iraq - to Pfc. Jesse D. Mizener.

The Bronze Star and Purple Heart recipient from Stockton is the namesake for the Mizener Wheel and Track Sustainment Facility, a 42-acre complex of eight buildings that will handle vehicle maintenance for the entire post of 120,000 military and civilian personnel.

The facility was dedicated in an hourlong event described as a "family affair."

"The ceremony was bittersweet," said Cindy Andruss, a media specialist who attended what the Army called a memorialization. "It was jubilant and, yet, there was a bit of sadness to it."

Mizener was killed Jan. 7, 2004, when Logistics Base Seitz, near the north end of Baghdad International Airport, came under enemy mortar attack. Six rounds hit his living quarters, and a nearby specialist was hit in the chest. Mizener, then 23, ran to cover his fellow soldier, telling her she would be OK. When Mizener looked down, his own chest was bleeding.

"Heck of a way to go home, but at least I get to see my baby boy," were Jesse Mizener's last words, according to the specialist. He had been deployed with the 542nd Company, 541st Battalion, 593rd Corps Support Group.

At Wednesday's ceremony, Col. Jeffrey Fletcher, garrison commander, spoke of the appropriateness of naming the new vehicle and maintenance facility after Mizener. Those who receive such honors are "warrior soldiers," Fletcher said, whose heroic actions provide a "lasting honor to others. ... Honorees should serve as a role model for their peers, and all those who use the facility, soldier or civilian."

Mizener's parents - James and Becky Mizener of Stockton - attended the ceremony held inside the largest new building in the complex, an 80,000-square-foot shop housing a 35-ton crane capable of lifting turrets out of tanks. Giant bays were kept open to the outside air. Wednesday was a relatively mild day in Georgia with overcast skies and high humidity.

The building was described as a giant "luxurious garage." After the formal part of the event, families connected with those who will work there - many of them Department of Defense civilians - hung around for a reception.

"It's huge and it's beautiful and I'm sure he would have loved to work here," Becky Mizener told the NBC-TV affiliate in Columbus, Ga. "He always liked to be in the limelight. If he were here and we were able to tell him there's a building named after you, a whole facility, he would just really be jazzed."

Becky Mizener founded "Packed With Pride," a charity that sends care packages to U.S. troops abroad, shortly after her son's death. The organization has reached hundreds of soldiers worldwide.

"She's a very approachable and friendly woman, a courageous woman to revisit this tragedy," Andruss said.

Others who spoke were David Shepherd, director of logistics, and David Jacob, installation materiel maintenance officer chief.

Earlier this month, Jacob told The Record: "Why would you not pick someone like Jesse to memorialize a facility that is dedicated to maintenance?"

A week ago, Sacramento's Nicole Mizener, Jesse's widow, told the Auburn Journal she was proud of the honor. She was unable to attend the ceremony.

"I'd have to say that first of all I felt really blessed," Nicole Mizener said. "If anybody deserved it, it would probably be him. He was a really great person. I know that this is the first mechanic that is being memorialized in this way in the history of the military. That is really important, I think. The kids are really excited. They think it's really neat."

Jesse and Nicole's children, Gia, Eve and Jesse Jr. are now 10, 9 and 7 years old respectively.

Prior to the creation of the Mizener facility, Fort Benning's repair and maintenance staffs were spread out over 20 sites, some of them miles apart. Many of the structures dated to the 1940s.

The new complex includes a 35,000-square-foot shop; a 25,000-square-foot paint shop with six bays; a 13,000-square-foot allied trades building that will function as a machine shop for fabricating, welding, cutting and designing; a 5,000-square-foot shop devoted to performance testing on engines and a 3,000-square-foot bead-blasting shop.